AltWeeklies Wire
Police Sociologist and Criminal Justice Prof Writes About His Experience as a Baltimore Copnew
As a critic of the justice system, Peter Moskos decided to engage this dysfunction from a very local level, from the perspective of an officer on the street. As an officer, he became a cog in the machine, patrolling Broadway, from Orleans Street to North Avenue, on the night beat.
Baltimore City Paper |
John Barry |
07-29-2008 |
Nonfiction
On October 27, 1962, the World Nearly Came to an Endnew
Much has been written about the ultimate crisis of the Cold War, but Michael Dobbs' account vividly captures the white-knuckled anxiety that gripped the White House and the Kremlin during those dark days.
NOW Magazine |
Howard Goldenthal |
07-28-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Free Ride' Dissects a Media Smitten With the McCain Mythosnew
Brock and Waldman hypothesize that the media, weary from covering a corrupt government and the self-centered politicians that are its lifeblood, suffers a hero-sized vacuum that needs filling. Enter McCain. After Clinton's semantics and Bush's chickenhawk warmongering, a straight-talking former POW cuts quite the dashing figure.
Artvoice |
Matthew Miranda |
07-25-2008 |
Nonfiction
Mountain Migrant Rick Bass Tries to Explain Why He Left Houston for Higher Groundnew
The American West is a receding point, measured by imagination rather than sextant, and Bass has found it in a rugged stretch of 1 million acres whose human census -- 150 -- is outnumbered by each of several other species, including black bears, owls, elk, and coyotes.
The Texas Observer |
Steven G. Kellman |
07-24-2008 |
Nonfiction
David Sedaris Continues with Un-Fiction in 'Flames'new
Sedaris, in addition to the previous charge of not being a journalist, is now also found guilty of being entertaining.
Charleston City Paper |
Jon Santiago |
07-23-2008 |
Nonfiction
Why Did the Liberals Cross the Road? Bill Bishop Crunches the Numbersnew
Although conventional wisdom affirms the accuracy of the analysis in The Big Sort and the social costs that flow from it -- a decrease in across-the-aisle contact, elevated levels of rhetorical excess, diminished civility -- it does not follow that our political life has reached new levels of intemperance, or that this has had any enduring impact on our capacity to govern.
The Texas Observer |
Char Miller |
07-23-2008 |
Nonfiction
'The Drunkard's Walk' Admirably Intros Statistics and Probabilitynew
It helps that as a science writer, Leonard Mlodinow has a PhD in physics and did a stint writing for Star Trek: The Next Generation.
NOW Magazine |
David Jager |
07-21-2008 |
Nonfiction
Rick Rhodes Wrote the Book on Boating the Ohio River and Its Tributariesnew
The Ohio River is a practical guide for contemporary boaters, with detailed sketches of all eight rivers, dozens of black-and-white photos, and rosters of boat clubs, marinas and other dock sites -- even riverside restaurants.
Pittsburgh City Paper |
Bill O'Driscoll |
07-21-2008 |
Nonfiction
Andrew Ferguson Takes a Fresh Look at Abe Lincolnnew
Yes, parts of Land of Lincoln may seem flip, shallow, not fully informed -- but there is considerably more here to admire than to denigrate.
Illinois Times |
Jacqueline Jackson |
07-21-2008 |
Nonfiction
Bill Ivey Agruse that Copyright Holders are Hoarding Our Cultural Legacy in 'Arts, Inc.'new
Ivey, the former head of the National Endowment for the Arts from 1998 to 2001, passionately believes that the public's right to know--to experience--its cultural heritage is severely threatened by monopolistic corporations, overzealous copyright laws and the erosion of the concept of "fair use."
Metro Silicon Valley |
Michael S. Gant |
07-17-2008 |
Nonfiction
Faye Flam Flubs the Sexy in 'The Score'new
Her sex column, Carnal Knowledge, was probably some of the least interesting writing Flam did in her career, yet here she takes actual content from the column, then squeezes it into a haphazard trajectory.
Philadelphia Weekly |
Liz Spikol |
07-14-2008 |
Nonfiction
Bookman: Larry McMurtry's Life in the Tradenew
The Lonesome Dove and Brokeback Mountain author's latest autobiographical effort focuses on his years as an antiquarian book-seller.
Boston Phoenix |
George Kimball |
07-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Winning Our Energy Independence' Takes on 'The Three Poisons'new
S. David Freeman lays out a plan to phase out Big Coal, Big Oil, and nuclear over 30 years while meeting the needs of our high-energy society by implementing renewable technologies that already exist: sun, wind, and renewably generated hydrogen, supplemented by small hydroelectric, geothermal, and certain biofuels.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
Diana Scott |
07-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
Ta-Nehisi Coates Charts a 'Beautiful Struggle'new
To read this memoir about growing up in black in Baltimore is to catch a glimpse of the profound legacy and letdown of a generation raised to rebel but forced instead to fight disappointment, imprisonment, and despair.
San Francisco Bay Guardian |
D. Scot Miller |
07-10-2008 |
Nonfiction
Jazz Began Where?new
In a new book, noted jazz historian Samuel Charters changes his tune on how the genre began.
Gambit |
Jason Berry |
07-09-2008 |
Nonfiction
